A college campus event hosting Milo Yiannopoulos and Martin Shkreli, two controversial figures who have both been banned on Twitter, was canceled because of heated protests Friday night.
Yiannopoulos, editor of Breitbart News, and Shkreli, a former pharmaceutical executive charged with securities fraud, were supposed to speak Friday at the University of California in Davis at an event hosted by the Davis College Republicans, a student-run group. But the university visit, which Breitbart promoted by using #SHKRELOPOULOS, was abruptly canceled after a mass of protesters opposing Yiannopoulos’s appearance on campus showed up outside the building where it was supposed to take place.
University officials said in a statement that the Republican student group canceled it after consulting with campus police and student affairs officials.
“A large number of protesters blocked access to the venue,” according to the statement, “and it was determined that it was no longer feasible to continue with the event safely.”
The Davis College Republicans later announced on its Facebook page that members, along with Yiannopoulos, will gather back on campus at 1 p.m. Pacific time Saturday.
“We will not stand for the regressive left perpetuating violence, censoring speech, and spreading hate,” the student organization wrote on its Facebook page.
Yiannopoulos said on Facebook that his event was canceled “after violence from left-wing protesters,” and that police and university officials told his staff Friday night that it could not proceed.
Yiannopoulos, a conservative writer, was supposed to speak at UC Davis as part of his tour of universities across the country, dubbed “The Dangerous Faggot Tour.” He later announced that Shkreli, former chief executive of Turing Pharmaceuticals, will join him as guest speaker.
To promote the event, Yiannopoulos posted a picture of him and Shkreli side by side, with the title “A Twitter Villain Extravaganza,” on his Instagram page.
Hundreds of students and alumni wrote a public letter condemning the event, saying it “serves as a direct threat toward traditionally marginalized groups on campus” and called Yiannopoulos “a champion of hate speech against people of color and women.”
“The university’s commitment to free speech is not an obligation to provide a formal podium for every form on nonacademic, hateful rhetoric that student groups wish to bring to campus,” according to the letter addressed to campus officials and the Davis College Republicans.
Officials initially declined to cancel the event, saying the university should be open to all ideas.
“As a public university, we remain true to our obligation to uphold everyone’s First Amendment freedoms,” Ralph Hexter, the interim chancellor, said in a statement. “This commitment includes fostering an environment that avoids censorship and allows space for differing points of view.”
